Vanessa Bryant sues LA Sheriff Alex Villanueva over leaked pics of Kobe helicopter crash and trying to cover up
Vanessa Bryant has brought a lawsuit against the LA County sheriff and his department, reportedly saying that personal cellphone photos of the bodies of Kobe and Gigi Bryant at the scene of their helicopter crash had caused her severe emotional distress. According to a report by TMZ, the suit describes events in the aftermath of the tragedy. Vanessa notes that when she and family members gathered at the LA County Sheriff’s station in Lost Hills, Sheriff Alex Villanueva told her that deputies were securing and cordoning off the crash site.
“But the biggest threat to the sanctity of the victims’ remains proved to be the Sheriff’s Department itself,” the lawsuit states. “Faced with a scene of unimaginable loss, no fewer than eight sheriff’s deputies at the crash site pulled out their personal cell phones and snapped photos of the dead children, parents and coaches. The deputies took these photos for their own personal gratification.”
According to the suit, the photos were the subject of conversation within the department and deputies simply showed off the disturbing pictures to their colleagues without any investigative purpose. The photos were eventually exposed when a deputy showed the photos to a woman he was trying to impress at a bar, the lawsuit claims. A bartender reportedly overheard the conversation and immediately called the sheriff's department.
That's when Sheriff Villanueva allegedly tried to cover it up, per the lawsuit, by telling deputies they would not face discipline if they deleted the photos from their cellphones. The suit alleges that the purpose of Villanueva's words was the destruction of evidence and notes that he did not tell the family about the photos. They only learned of it when the story broke in the media.
Furthermore, the lawsuit also claims that the sheriff didn't give the family "straight answers" and that Vanessa fears the "photos will leak." "Ms Bryant feels ill at the thought of strangers gawking at images of her deceased husband and child, and she lives in fear that she or her children will one day confront horrific images of their loved ones online," it states.
The lawsuit reportedly seeks "unspecified damages, including punitive damages," according to TMZ.
Earlier this month, Bryant slammed Villanueva for the leaked photos from the crash after he challenged NBA star LeBron James to match the reward money for information on the shooting of two deputies in Compton.
Bryant's Instagram statement against Villanueva on September 15 came just hours after the LA County Sheriff challenged James on Monday, September 14 to financially back efforts to find the gunman who shot two LA County deputies at point-blank range on Saturday night, September 12, in Compton. Villanueva asked James to match and double the reward money being offered for information. The sheriff said that the reward money had reached $175,000, from a combination of donations form the county and two private individuals.
Bryant, in her series of Instagram stories, also shared an article from The Hollywood Reporter claiming that the union for deputies of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department was suing Villanueva to keep the internal affairs investigation into the distribution of the photos private.